"Among the great masters of improv, he transfixed audiences with a mile-a-minute comic energy. Williams's Golden Globe-winning turn in Good Morning, Vietnam demonstrated that his versatile acting talents were equally suited to evoking dramatic complexity.

"Many of Williams's most iconic performances - in Dead Poets Society, Mrs Doubtfire, and his Oscar-winning triumph Good Will Hunting - were dazzling high-wire acts that left audiences in tears of laughter one minute and tears of poignancy the next."